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The postal service subsector is part of the transportation and warehousing sector.
The Postal Service subsector includes the activities of the National Post Office and its subcontractors operating under a universal service obligation to provide mail services, and using the infrastructure required to fulfill that obligation. These services include delivering letters and small parcels. These articles can be described as those that can be handled by one person without using special equipment. This allows the collection, pick-up, and delivery operations to be done with limited labor costs and minimal equipment. Sorting and transportation activities, where necessary, are generally mechanized. The restriction to small parcels distinguishes these establishments from those in the transportation industries. These establishments may also provide express delivery services using the infrastructure established for provision of basic mail services.
North American Industry Classification System
The postal service subsector consists of a single industry group, Postal Service: NAICS 4911.
This section provides information relating to employment in postal service. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry , data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.
Data series | Employment, 2023 |
---|---|
First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators |
4,890 |
78,130 | |
331,600 | |
Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators |
116,520 |
13,810 |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
Recent hourly and annual earnings for occupations commonly found in postal service.
Data series | Wages, 2023 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Hourly | Annual | |||
Median | Mean | Median | Mean | |
First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators |
38.27 | 38.93 | 79,600 | 80,980 |
28.64 | 28.48 | 59,570 | 59,240 | |
27.08 | 28.53 | 56,330 | 59,340 | |
Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators |
25.69 | 27.10 | 53,440 | 56,360 |
42.63 | 43.16 | 88,670 | 89,770 |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities in postal service.
Data series | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fatalities |
||||
14 | 21 | 17 | 21 | |
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. |
(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)
This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction.
Data series | Back data |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
Sep. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(p)301.288 | (p)301.288 | (p)319.548 | (p)319.548 | ||
Percent change from previous month |
(p)0.0% | (p)0.0% | (p)6.1% | (p)0.0% | |
Footnotes |
(Source: Producer Price Indexes)
This section presents data on the number of establishments in postal service. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.
Data series | Back data |
2nd quarter 2023 |
3rd quarter 2023 |
4th quarter 2023 |
1st quarter 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of establishments |
|||||
29,401 | 29,677 | 29,721 | (p)29,798 | ||
Footnotes |
(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)
This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked. Growth in unit labor costs represent the annual change in the labor cost of producing one unit of output.
Data series | Back data |
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.0 | -3.5 | -5.3 | -5.7 | ||
0.1 | 1.4 | -0.8 | -2.3 | ||
1.1 | -2.2 | -6.0 | -7.9 | ||
0.5 | -0.3 | 7.3 | 17.1 |
(Source: Productivity)
Data extracted on: October 31, 2024